Every state sets a floor for how much liability coverage a driver must carry, and every state sets it somewhere different. That much is expected. What is less expected is the size of the gap.
Across the ten states on this site, the legal minimum for bodily injury to one person runs from $15,000 in Pennsylvania to $250,000 in Michigan — a factor of roughly sixteen. Both numbers are the law. Neither is an outlier that somebody forgot to update.
The ten floors
| State | Shorthand | Per person | Per accident | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 15/30/5 | $15,000 | $30,000 | $5,000 |
| New York | 25/50/10 | $25,000 | $50,000 | $10,000 |
| Illinois | 25/50/20 | $25,000 | $50,000 | $20,000 |
| Georgia | 25/50/25 | $25,000 | $50,000 | $25,000 |
| Ohio | 25/50/25 | $25,000 | $50,000 | $25,000 |
| California | 30/60/15 | $30,000 | $60,000 | $15,000 |
| Texas | 30/60/25 | $30,000 | $60,000 | $25,000 |
| North Carolina | 50/100/50 | $50,000 | $100,000 | $50,000 |
| Michigan | 250/500/10 | $250,000 | $500,000 | $10,000 |
| Florida | PIP $10,000 / PDL $10,000 | Not required | Not required | $10,000 |
The property damage column has its own spread: $5,000 in Pennsylvania, $50,000 in North Carolina, a factor of ten. Pennsylvania insurers may instead offer a combined single limit of $35,000, which satisfies both requirements at once.
Michigan’s number is not what it looks like
Michigan’s 250/500/10 is the highest default in the table, and it arrived on 2 July 2020 as part of the no-fault reform package. But it is a default, not a floor. A Michigan driver may buy down to 50/100/10, and only on a signed form. Guides still listing 20/40/10 are quoting the pre-2020 minimum.
The reason the default is so high is structural. The same reform let drivers cap their own PIP medical benefits, which means an at-fault Michigan driver can now be sued for the injured person’s allowable expenses and work loss above that cap — exposure that did not exist when every Michigan policy carried unlimited PIP. The liability default rose because the thing it has to answer for changed. See Michigan’s minimums and Michigan’s fault page.
Michigan’s $10,000 property damage figure is also not comparable to the others. It is residual property damage liability, covering property you damage in another state. Damage done inside Michigan is paid by Property Protection Insurance, a mandatory coverage unique to Michigan that pays up to $1,000,000, without regard to fault, for damage your car does to buildings, fences and properly parked vehicles. It does not pay for damage to another moving car.
Florida is a different question entirely
Florida is the one state here with no bodily injury liability requirement for ordinary drivers. Not a low one — none. What the state requires is $10,000 of personal injury protection and $10,000 of property damage liability.
Bodily injury liability becomes mandatory only in specific circumstances: after a DUI conviction under § 324.023, or as future proof of financial responsibility after a crash or an unsatisfied judgment under chapter 324. An ordinary Florida driver with a clean record can satisfy the law without carrying any coverage for injuries they cause to someone else.
That structure is deliberate and it is still being argued about. A 2026 bill to repeal the no-fault law and replace PIP with a bodily injury requirement died in committee on 13 March 2026 — the third failed attempt, after a 2021 bill that passed both chambers and was vetoed and a 2025 bill that died in committee. PIP remains compulsory. See Florida’s change history.
Which numbers moved, and which did not
Three of these figures are recent, and two of the three are routinely reported wrong.
North Carolina raised its limits to 50/100/50 on 1 July 2025, up from 30/60/25 — one of the largest single jumps in the table. The state’s own printed Driver Handbook still shows the old numbers.
California raised its limits to 30/60/15 by SB 1107, for any policy issued or renewed on or after 1 January 2025, up from 15/30/5. Guides still listing 15/30/5 are describing the pre-2025 rule. California’s limits are scheduled to rise again on 1 January 2035, to 50/100/25; because Proposition 103 requires the Insurance Commissioner to approve every California auto rate before it is used, the Vehicle Code directs the Commissioner to start soliciting rate filings for those limits by 1 July 2033.
Illinois did not raise anything. Its limits have not changed since 1 January 2015, and 625 ILCS 5/7-203 still reads $25,000 / $50,000 / $20,000. A 2025 bill proposing 50/100/40 did not pass, which has not stopped the increase from being reported as fact. See the Illinois change history.
What the minimum does and does not decide
A state minimum is a threshold for legality, not an estimate of what a crash costs. It answers one question — may this person drive here — and it was set by a legislature at a particular moment for reasons that included what the insurance market would bear at the time.
Two things follow from the table that are worth holding onto.
The first is that the number is not portable. A Pennsylvania policy at 15/30/5 is lawful in Pennsylvania. The same driver in a crash in North Carolina is in a state whose own floor is more than three times higher, and the damages do not adjust to match the policy.
The second is that the minimum is only one of the coverages a state may require, and states disagree about the others too. North Carolina requires uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and does not let you reject either. New York requires uninsured motorist bodily injury at the same 25/50 minimums and it cannot be rejected. Ohio requires no such offer at all — ORC 3937.18(A) says a policy “may, but is not required to, include” it, so an Ohio driver has to ask for it by name. Pennsylvania makes both optional.
Each state page carries its own figures with the statute they come from: all states.